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An Anonymous Coward writes:

http://www.winestockwebdesign.com/Essays/Eternal_Mainframe.html [winestockwebdesign.com]

In the computer industry, the Wheel of Reincarnation is a pattern whereby specialized hardware gets spun out from the “main” system, becomes more powerful, then gets folded back into the main system. As the linked Jargon File entry points out, several generations of this effect have been observed in graphics and floating-point coprocessors.

In this essay, I note an analogous pattern taking place, not in peripherals of a computing platform, but in the most basic kinds of “computing platform.” And this pattern is being driven as much by the desire for “freedom” as by any technical consideration.

        “Revolution” has many definitions. From the looks of this, I'd say “going around in circles” comes closest to applying...

        -Richard M. Hartman

A funny thing happened on the way to the future. The mainframe outlasted its replacements.

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